Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
On the second floor of the Hall of Gods, the female sales assistant eagerly brought Zhou Donghuang and Fu to the rack filled with spears. “Sir, we only have these two spears here.”
As she spoke, Zhou Donghuang could also see that there were only two spears on the rack before him. One of them had a spearhead of iron ore, with a shiny blade that looked extremely sharp. The shaft was made of a bamboo stick, but he could easily tell that this was no ordinary piece of bamboo. Furthermore, a spear made of ordinary bamboo would not possibly be placed here on the second floor of the Hall of Gods.
Seeing his gaze fall on that spear, the lady smiled and said, “Sir, for this spear, the head is made of purified precious purple iron ore. As for the shaft, it is made of extremely rare tan bamboo, which makes it as strong as steel but more flexible. But this spear is only about 50kg heavy.”
Even before her introduction, Zhou Donghuang could see that this spear was not heavy as it was an extremely tough, tan bamboo spear.
Spears had many types. The most common and the most direct type would be a big heavy spear. However, some spear masters preferred tan bamboo spears as they were more flexible, and their elasticity could be used to fight the enemy.
Though tan bamboo spears were good, they were not what Zhou Donghuang needed. His eyes landed on the only other spear.
This spear was fully black with red iridescence. It looked extremely heavy, with the head and the shaft fused into one.
“Black iron!” At a glance, Zhou Donghuang could tell that this spear was forged of pure black iron, and the spearhead had already been sharpened, gleaming with coldness. Black iron that had been sharpened could easily cut any other metal.
“Sir, this spear is the heaviest in our armory. The whole body is made of black iron and weighs 600kg,” the lady introduced.
“This is it,” Zhou Donghuang announced.
This was exactly the spear he wanted. Initially, he had thought that he could only find a spear mixed with black iron in the Hall of Gods, but he never imagined that he would be able to find one forged purely of black iron. It was a pleasant surprise.
“Sir, because this spear is made purely of black iron, it’s also extremely expensive…” the lady reminded.
Zhou Donghuang asked, “How much?”
“One hundred forty thousand liang of silver. Of which 120 thousand liang is the cost of the raw material, and of the other 20 thousand liang of silver, 10 thousand is for the wasted black iron during the forging process, while the other 10 thousand is the fee for the blacksmith.” The lady not only introduced the price but also all the components within.
Black iron cost a hundred liang of silver per 500g in Yunyang Country. Because black iron was dense and heavy, 500g of it was very little. For a simple dagger, more than 30g of black iron would be needed.
“Fu,” Zhou Donghuang called Fu. Fu stepped forward and took out all the notes on him and handed it all to the lady, with just ten thousand liang remaining,
Before leaving, besides 150 thousand liang of silver, Fu had also brought some loose change. Their daily expenses had used this loose change, so the notes had not been used, all 150 thousand liang of silver were intact.
“Sir, please give me a moment while I get the shopkeeper to issue you a receipt.” After confirming that the sum was correct, the lady rushed to the third floor of the armory where the shopkeeper was.
The lady came back shortly, following an old man.
The old man wore a loose grey robe and had a small, diminished frame but with a pair of attentive eyes. On his sunken dry face, he wore a huge smile. His smile looked worse than a frown.
“Sir, this is the shopkeeper of the Hall of Gods, Elder Chen.” The lady introduced the old man to Zhou Donghuang.
“I, Zhao Ruochen, am the shopkeeper of the Hall of Gods.” As the old man walked to Zhou Donghuang, he bowed slightly and handed him a thick piece of paper. “Sir, this is your receipt for the black iron spear you just bought.”
Zhou Donghuang nodded and took the receipt and passed it to Fu. His gaze never left the old man. “Now, can I leave with the spear?”
“Sir, do you need us to deliver it to you?” Zhao Ruochen was surprised, as was the lady behind him.
“There is no need for that,” Zhou Donghuang answered flatly. He stepped forward and lifted the black iron spear off the rack easily with one hand. 600kg was not heavy for him. But at his current strength, it would be difficult to handle the spear easily. Unless… he used some martial arts techniques meant for wielding heavy weapons. He had no lack of knowledge about these tricks.
Immediately, under the amazed eyes of Zhao Ruochen and the lady sales assistant, Zhou Donghuang left the armory with Fu, holding the spear with one hand.
As for Li Rui and Li Hui, they had left shortly after Zhou Donghuang went to the second floor.
“Who on earth is he?” At the entrance of the Hall of Gods, Zhao Ruochen muttered to himself as he watched the two of them leave. A teenager who looked 16 or 17 years old easily picked up a 600kg black iron spear and took it with such ease. It seemed like it was effortless to walk with the heavy spear.
What could that mean? It meant that that teenager had at least 1000kg of strength. How could a 16 or 17-year-old teenager possibly have more than 1000kg of strength?
“Elder Chen.” Right then, the lady who had served Li Hui and Li Rui heard Zhao Ruochen muttering to himself and said, “Just now, the two guests whom I served called him ‘Zhou Donghuang.’ They said that the teenager was the boss of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan town.”
“Zhou… Zhou Donghuang?!” Just as the words left her mouth, Zhou Ruochen’s eyes narrowed and turned intently to the lady. “Are you sure he’s called Zhou Donghuang?”
“Elder Chen, just now, the two guests whom Sister Mei served definitely addressed my guest as Zhou Donghuang,” the lady who had served Zhou Donghuang confirmed.
Zhou Donghuang had no idea about the shock that the shopkeeper of the Hall of Gods, Zhao Ruochen had when he found out his identity. He led Fu back to the inn and instructed him, “Fu, prepare a letter and get someone to bring it to the Lu family and hand it to their chief, Lu Qinghu. In the letter, tell him that tomorrow at noon, I will visit the Lu family.”
As he said this, Zhou Donghuang’s eyes glimmered. It was time to settle some matters. He had bought a spear today just for this purpose.
“Yes, sir.” Fu went to prepare.
